On October 6, the 14th year of Astronomy (1545), Fujiyama Hongu Sengen Taisha Shrine in Fuji County.
The reason why I went north to Sengen Taisha Shrine during the class was because of the suggestion of Fuji Nobutada, the palace secretary of Sengen Taisha Shrine and the lord of Fujimiya Castle under the Imagawa family:
"Throughout the ages, many samurai have enshrined yabusame at the main palace of Sengen Taisha Shrine when they were victorious. Today, Your Highness has defeated the Hojo and restored the Imagawa family's homeland, making the Imagawa family's territory the most prosperous since the first generation. Why not follow the example of our forefathers and do the same? Is this palace dedicated to you?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned and thought for a while, only to realize that this was really the case - the Imagawa family's original territory was Suruga and Toe, and later it was divided into two branches, the Suruga Imagawa clan and the Toe Imagawa clan. His father, Imagawa clan, was able to unify the country during his reign, and further extended his tentacles into Mikawa. During the period of Imagawa Yoshimoto, he first put down the rebellion in Yue, then substantially controlled Higashi Mikawa, and finally recovered the lost Kadong area - indeed, it was the largest territory in the history of the Imagawa family.
I didn't expect that an idle housekeeper like me who was not doing his job could achieve such an achievement... Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed secretly, but he accepted the proposal to honor the Yabuma. After all, he had never seen this ceremony with his own eyes. It’s not bad to go and have fun.
As a result, the troops camped at the foot of Mount Fuji and waited. Imagawa Yoshimoto led the military's senior samurai and horse warriors up the mountain to the Sengen Taisha Shrine at the southern foot of Mount Fuji. He selected 30 horsemen to participate in the ceremony of the Ryūdyma. According to the custom of the time, the troops returning from victory were required to wear the same clothes as they went to the battlefield. But when Imagawa Yoshimoto led the horsemen to the expedition this time, he only wore plain casual clothes. It really didn't look good, so he put on a light set of gear outside. The iron cannon that shined so brightly in this battle was slung on everyone's shoulders as an additional decoration.
Under the leadership of Fuji Nobutada, they worshiped the gods in front of the racecourse and prayed for the victory of the samurai family. Imagawa Yoshimoto took the sacred wine presented in front of the god, and then the palace minister Fuji Nobutada took the bow and arrow presented in front of the god, praying for long-lasting military luck. After completing the Divine Wine Holding Pose and the Crossing Bow Pose, Imagawa Yoshimoto nocked his bow and arrow, and shot an arrow into the deserted sky to pray for good weather, peace and prosperity for the country and the people. Afterwards, a group of people led their horses to the racecourse. Imagawa Yoshimoto raised the fan in his hand and threw it high into the air. The fan-raising gesture also announced the beginning of the Yabusame horse ceremony.
So, the group of people got on their horses and set foot on the horse farm where countless Genpei warriors had worshiped Yabushi horses. Imagawa Yoshimoto was the leader, and the horsemen behind him carefully controlled the speed of their horses, kept a distance, and lined up in a row, following behind Imagawa Yoshimoto. Every ten feet or so, a diamond-shaped wooden board is set up next to the shooting range as a target, and multiple large and small fans are also set up as auxiliary targets. The warriors riding by must shoot at these targets in turn and shoot down all the folding fans.
According to past precedents, the leader at the front of the queue only needs to shoot three arrows and hit all the targets - after all, the folding fan swaying in the wind is really difficult for those daimyo who are not good at shooting. The warriors behind will Helping the daimyo make up for those uchiban fans - but this is not a problem at all for Imagawa Yoshimoto, who is skilled in bow and horse. He did not move forward slowly and solemnly like those daimyo who were afraid of showing their timidity, so as to buy more aiming time for his shooting. Instead, he moved his horse briskly, as if he were outing in the countryside, and at the same time he continued his shots with ease. He fired his arrows and shot down all the fans one by one, winning cheers from the crowd.
After the shooting, the group led the horses back to the front of the temple, and the palace minister awarded the purple flag seal to the best person to complete the consciousness granted by the gods - naturally to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Afterwards, everyone held their bows at their sides and bowed towards the temple, marking the end of the Yabusame ceremony.
"Keep it for me." After returning, Imagawa Yoshimoto wrapped up the purple flag seal he had just obtained and handed it to Ginkgo, who was watching.
"Yes, you can use it as a blanket for Miaomiao and the others." Ginkgo casually took the flag print, flicked it hard, and spread it in front of him. At the same time, he squeezed it with his hands to feel the material.
"What are you talking about? It's blasphemy again." Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly raised his hand and chanted a few Buddhist chants.
"Why don't you use the iron cannon to shoot that uchiwa fan? I heard that you won the battle with the iron cannon, right?" Ginkgo smiled and took out the iron cannon from Imagawa Yoshimoto's back and pretended to shoot it.
action.
"Oh my god, how can anyone use this kind of strange silver skill from the Southern Barbarians in front of the gods?" Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly shook his head wildly and kept chanting the Buddha's name, for fear that the gods would hear Ginkgo's thoughts.
"Pedantry." Ginkgo complained with a pout.
At this time, an old man dressed as a scholar walked up to the side slowly, held a scroll to Imagawa Yoshimoto with both hands and said: "Your Highness, I have finished the painting you want!"
"Thank you so much, Echizen Mamoru!" Imagawa Yoshimoto hurriedly bowed and thanked me. Without any airs of superiority or inferiority, he said very humbly and gratefully: "Thank you so much! It's really a worthwhile trip to get your pen and ink."
The old man in front of him is none other than the current head of the Kano family, Motonobu Kano, the second generation of the famous Kano school of painting. His father, Kano Masanobu, was the royal painter of the Muromachi shogunate. He inherited the popular monk painting style at the time and incorporated the charm of Chinese ink painting, which made him famous. Under the pen of Kano Motonobu, the Kano School further absorbed the Japanese painting style of Japan, perfected its painting skills, and became a world-famous painting school. This time, when Imagawa Yoshimoto went to enshrine Yabuma, he asked Kano Motonobu to come and paint for him. The territory of the Kano family is in the east of the river, and he is also a retainer of the Imagawa family. Naturally, Kano Motonobu happily agreed.
While Imagawa Yoshimoto took the scroll and looked at it, he regretfully said to Kano Gento: "Your paintings are really fascinating. When I was a child, every time I could get a copy of your work, I would I was happy for half a month, but it was a pity that my teacher confiscated it hahaha... At that time, I knew that your family's territory was only half a day's journey from Zentokuji Temple where I practiced. I just wished that I didn't get the opportunity to visit Echizen Mori as soon as possible. Please give me some advice on the paintings below. Skills."
"Haha, I'm just a wandering wild crane. I don't spend much time in Suruga's hometown. Instead, I wander around the mountains and rivers every day. I rarely have the opportunity to learn from and teach His Highness. This time, by chance, I happened to be in Suruga. It's fate to visit relatives in the hometown." Kano Motonobu touched the long gray beard on his chin and smiled at Imagawa Yoshimoto, "The territory and other things are all left to the family to take care of. I can't hold the knife. I have no choice but to play with the brush."
The surrounding horsemen saw that Kano Motobu and Imagawa Yoshimoto did not have the humility of retainers when they spoke. Instead, they had the tone of an elder speaking to a junior, and they were both a little dissatisfied. However, Imagawa Yoshimoto himself does not care about these at all. He who loves literature and art will naturally respect people like Kano Motobu.
"This is exactly the life I yearn for... It's a pity that I was born in the samurai family, so I am destined to miss Fengya." Imagawa Yoshimoto let out a long sigh and looked in the direction of Kyoto to the west in despair, "Otherwise, maybe I can be here He became a famous literati in Kinki, Kyoto."
"Your Highness is being too modest. Although you say you don't want to join the martial arts family, your heroic spirit is the most heroic I have ever seen." Kano Motonobu did not mean to flatter others, but said sincerely: " I have been traveling in Kinki for many years, and relying on these false reputations, many samurai have asked me to paint for them. Among them are many powerful samurai such as Kōhoden and Guanlingden. However, their courage in riding horses and drawing bows is not as good as His Highness. One-tenth."
"I hope you can praise my painting skills so much." Imagawa Yoshimoto also laughed. While chatting with Kano Motonobu, he never let his eyes leave the painting in front of him, carefully pondering the techniques in it. In the picture, Imagawa Yoshimoto leaps with his horse and draws a bow, with a sharp arrow on the string. He looks quite majestic.
"If that's the case, I would like to ask His Highness to appreciate it and draw an inscription for it." Kano Motonobu came up with the idea and immediately asked Imagawa Yoshimoto, "I have heard about His Highness's calligraphy skills for a long time, and I can't wait to appreciate it."
"Okay!" Imagawa Yoshimoto was also very interested. While instructing Hayasaka Nao to get the calligraphy treasure, he frowned and thought: "What should I ask?"
"Don't you sour writers just like to talk about literate things like Waka Feiku?" Ginkgo said sarcastically in a strange tone, "Anyway, what others can't understand is the best."
"Hey! Madam, what you said is wrong." Kano Motonobu shook his head after hearing this, "Art is about appreciating both refined and popular tastes. If a painting or calligraphy is incomprehensible, then it is the fault of the creator, not the viewer. The problem."
"Oh, then no matter what Mr. writes, I can't understand it.
Is it Mr.’s problem? Ginkgo then turned around and gave Imagawa Yoshimoto a white look.
"Then Ginkgo, come up with a poem and I'll write it for you." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a sly smile, intending to make things difficult for the "mountain girl" in front of him.
"Huh, what's the problem?" Ginkgo didn't have any stage fright. He glanced at the clothes of Imagawa Yoshimoto in the painting, and thought about the Yabusame horse presentation just now, and then he opened his mouth and said: "Qing Yi, ride the horse lightly." A, Imagawajibu-style dysprosium horse. (Blue clothes, early horse riding, 軽いarms, Imagawajibu-ryu, and dysprosium horse だかな.)"
"Without "Jiyu", there is no soul. "——The other Imagawa family warriors around did not dare to offend their mistress, so they could only complain silently in their hearts.
A Waka master like Imagawa Yoshimoto naturally understands the problems that ordinary samurai can see. But when I saw Ginkgo’s deliberately puffed-up chest and the cute smile on her face, the polished version I originally thought of turned into a sentence: "Not bad!"
"Really or not?" Ginkgo didn't believe it herself and burst into laughter.
"Of course." Imagawa Yoshimoto touched Ginkgo's head affectionately - making the surrounding Kano Motobu and other Imagawa family warriors feel a little ashamed - then Imagawa Yoshimoto rolled up his sleeves, picked up the brush, and wrote The scroll was laid flat on the table, and the four different songs that Ginkgo had just casually recited were placed on the scroll.
"From now on, my army of horses with iron cannons will be called "Imagawa-ryu dysprosium horses." Imagawa Yoshimoto pointed to the three Japanese characters for "Ryudysprosium Horse" on the scroll, smiled and said to Ginkgo, "How about the name you chose?"
"Whatever you want, there's really nothing you can do..." Ginkgo turned away, pretending to be unhappy, but the dimples at the corners of her mouth betrayed her.
Of course they would not know that this painting "Imagawa Yoshimoto's Ryūma" was later preserved as a historical relic and placed in a museum for countless future generations to admire. It is famous for its beauty that combines both calligraphy and painting. And the nondescript Japanese song sung by Ginkgo was also regarded as a pioneering work of "zahaiku" in later generations. It was widely appreciated by ordinary working people regardless of subject matter, rhythm and seasonal language. favorite. This type of waka is also collectively known as "Ginkgo" (that is, Kawaryanagi in the previous life) - taken from the name of Takeda Ginkgo.
